This invention relates to heat exchanger systems. More particularly, this invention relates to providing heat exchanger systems for improved drying of agricultural products, for example, prunes, and fabrics, for example laundry, using a system of heat recovery.
Typically, tremendous amounts of heat energy are wasted in conventional crop drying techniques. Conventional drying processes use large quantities of energy to heat cold ambient air to the temperature required to dry the crop. Much of this heat/energy is wasted by the direct discharge of the hot exhaust air exiting the dryer. FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a conventional crop dryer 104. Typically, crop dryer 104 comprises an enclosed tunnel 101 through which heated air 103 passes to dry crop 110, as shown for, typically, the drying of prunes. In existing systems, energy is wasted by directly discharging moist, heated moist, heated exhaust air 105 from enclosed tunnel 101, as shown. Users of commercial and household laundry dryers suffer from the same waste heat losses. A need exists for a system that utilizes the large amount of thermal energy typically discarded with the exhaust air as waste.